We have reached the end of week 2, and what a rainy week it’s been! Thank you all so much for your support with the start to our dinosaur topic. We love all the pictures, facts and models which have been bought in.

RWI

I’m thrilled to report that our little ones are becoming increasingly confident in using their sounds while writing. This confidence is leading to some fantastic developments, with many children showing independence in their writing. Some are now writing at length, which is a significant milestone for them at this stage. It is important for children to continue to remember their letter formation when writing at length.

As we navigate through the Reception year, it is perfectly acceptable for children to spell words phonetically, even if they haven’t yet mastered every sound. The emphasis at this point is on applying their phonics knowledge and expressing their ideas through writing. If a child's spelling may not look quite right, rest assured—it is a natural part of their learning journey. Our goal is to encourage them to be creative and fearless in their writing!

Maths

This week, we have been focusing on the composition of numbers 1-10. It’s important for our children to understand how different parts come together to form a whole. For instance, recognising that 2 and 3 make 5, just as 1 and 4 do, is a crucial skill that lays the foundation for their mathematical understanding. We encourage children to have a speedy recall of these facts to support their future maths understanding.

To make this learning engaging, we have been using a variety of practical activities. The children have enjoyed working with Numicon and cubes, which have provided a tactile way to explore these number relationships. These hands-on experiences not only enhance their understanding but also keep their enthusiasm for learning alive!

As we continue to build on this knowledge, I encourage you to practise recalling these number facts with your child at home. You might play simple games, use everyday objects, or even create fun challenges. The more they engage with numbers, the more confident they will become.

Next week we will be learning about addition.

Thematic

Science week

The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring a range of scientific equipment, including magnets and pipettes, and showed great curiosity throughout the activities.

As part of their investigations, the children learned how magnets work and discussed how they can either attract or repel one another. In addition, following our work on plants and how they grow, we explored how water travels to the top of a plant. To help us understand this, we placed celery in water mixed with food colouring and observed how the coloured water moved through the celery to support the plant. During this simple scientific experiment, we made predictions before testing their ideas and observing the results.

These practical experiences gave the children a wonderful opportunity to develop their scientific vocabulary, to ask questions, and to begin thinking like scientists. Their enthusiasm, careful observation, and willingness to predict and investigate were excellent to see.

This week we began our learning about dinosaurs. Our adventure began when we stumbled upon some frozen dinosaurs! The children were puzzled at first, but their imaginations quickly took flight. We brainstormed various ways to help these ancient creatures escape their icy prison. Ingenious solutions were proposed, including the use of hammers, hot water, and salt to melt the ice. It was a delightful sight to see their creativity and critical thinking in action, all while having so much fun!

As we explored this topic, we learned some intriguing facts about dinosaurs, including that they roamed our planet long before humans ever arrived. This naturally led us to the question: how do we know so much about them today? Through our discussions, we discovered the incredible work of paleontologists who study fossils to uncover details about dinosaurs, their habitats, and how they lived.

To further immerse ourselves in this topic, we pretended to be paleontologists ourselves! The children enthusiastically worked on assembling fossil bones to recreate dinosaur skeletons. This hands-on activity sparked their curiosity and deepened their understanding of how fossils are formed and what they reveal about these magnificent creatures.

Next week we will be learning about different dinosaur species.

Important messages

- Please ensure your child comes to school ready for the weather.

-Please ensure your child comes to school with a water bottle.

-All clothing should have your child's name.

- Reading record books are changed every Tuesday and Friday, please sign the record and put them in the basket to be changed. 

- Please complete the WOW moment sheets regularly so that we can add these to the children’s learning journey books.

Important dates

17th – 24th June – Book Fair 

18th June 2.45– Reception class assembly 

19th June – Zoe Artemedis (local Author) visiting school 

24th June – Class photos 

25th June – Reception Come Dine with me picnic 

26th June – Non-school uniform day for all in return for Summer Fair donations (see Summer fair letter that will come out early term 6 for details) 

30th June – Music evening at 6pm 

3rd July – Summer Fair 3.15-5.15 

9th July – Reception, year 1 and year 2 Sports day from 9.15 on top field 

10th July – School reports sent home 

13th, 14th, 15th July– Transition days (children will spend these days with their new class teacher) 

14th July 2.45pm – Parents invited into child’s new class to meet their teacher 

 

Thank you very much for your continued support.

From the EYFS team.